Point of View

The System of the World is written from the viewpoint of a third person narrator. While many literary critiques suggest this is the simplest narrative technique, it can be argued that it is one of the most complex because of the variations available. Stephenson writes from the omniscient viewpoint, which allows the writer to understand all of the character's thoughts and feelings and express them vividly to the reader. In other words, the narrator knows everything and the author creatively twists the plot around the narrator's knowledge. The author may divulge as little or as much information about the characters as he wants. The omniscient point of view has no boundaries and is an incredible extension of the imagination, which Stephenson creatively explores throughout the plot by changing locations and focusing on the issues each of his main characters are experiencing at the same time. An...